The mild temperature continued last week. When the sun came out on Wednesday and Friday mornings it almost felt like spring. Bees foraged on both days. Wednesday was the busiest as a [1] Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and about five [2] Honeybees (Apis mellifera) were visiting a Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima).
[1]
[2]
While on Friday another Buff-tailed Bumblebee was collecting nectar from a Mahonia. I found the perfume from these shrubs hard to ignore so I am not surprised that the bees were intoxicated by them too. However I have never seen Honey bees active in January before.
Other things I noticed last week, usually associated with Spring, were lawns full of daisies (Bellis perennis) along with a Great tit (Parus major) loudly singing it’s repetitive two syllable song ‘tea-cher, tea-cher’.
[3]
Should I be concerned that I am noticing lots of spring activity in January? It is lovely to be reminded that Spring isn’t far away but hopefully it won’t be a continuing annual trend.
Bee in the Moment 